Posts Tagged ‘George 2.0
I had trouble keeping up with all of the social media this week. The truth is, after Grandmeré passed, I didn’t feel like blogging or tweeting. But, I realized that certain moments have to be captured. Here is one of the videos I shot for myself during Grammy rehearsals. It is short–only a moment. But it should give you some insight into what I was thinking as we built the stage for our performance.
This is closed captioning. Use your own moments and they will always be remembered exactly how you want them to be.
-George 2.0
Turn off the TV
I originally posted this last week, but to the tune of only 30 downloads because yousendit has a cap on the amount of downloads one can…well…download.
Here, enjoy and play for your kids.
TOTV (Pilot) [New Mix] <—TOTV
Many of you do not know this, but Jon Genius was one of the first to work with The Wondaland Arts Society in establishing the video production and editing arm of the Mystery School. It was only fitting that we link back up with Mr. Flight Patterns himself to have him document the release of this epic album by Janelle Monáe. Yeah, I produced it, but that only amounted to getting him some Five Guys and picking the music.
This event was amazing! Special thanks to Eli, Jack, Micah, Jabari, Chris, and Jamie for driving all the way up to NY to help us out. Popcorn, candy, balloons, Tightrope competitions, etc…it was an amazing night!
If you don’t have the Arch Android yet, buy two copies and we’ll call it even.
Enjoy!
So I began working on TOTV2 tonight. Officially. It always starts late at night by myself. The difference this time is that I have had what some would call “writer’s block.” So I approached it differently this time.
Rough, raw, unmixed, and could potentially be left of the album, here is a piece called Lefty. I am anxious to see what you all think it is about.
As always, #punswild:
Enjoy.
2.0
As you know I have been traveling. (What else is new?) But while I’ve been traveling I’ve been shooting, not only on the #LAPTAPE, but with my Nikon D9000. The video quality is amazing, but the sound….eh, not so much. So I decided that I would break from the #LAPTAPE-only shoots and add in some of the crystal clear Nikon footage for the SHEPHERD’S WORDS video!
I set out around Manhattan during an extended trip there when I should have been trying to catch up on sleep and even got Stereo Crowd to shoot some #LAPTAPE during their rehearsal and started piecing it together.
Here is a screen shot of the piecing together of Shepherd’s Words!
Normally, the video would be done by now, but I have had a lot of editing to do with the Jane’s project–an amzing blessing in disguise. I have decided that through the rest of my travels over the next few months I want to collect as many friends as I can on camera giving their version of the hook:
I like to FREESTYLE/I like to MEANWHILE/I like to BUCKWILD/I like OOOOH CHILD!
So if you see me in your city, or if you are so ambitious as to pull out your own #LAPTAPE and shoot yourself rapping the chorus, you may just find yourself in 2.0’s next TURN OFF THE TV video!
Before jumping right into the ins and outs of how #TOTV was presented to the folks at the American Association of Advertising Agencies let me give you some back story on how worn out I was by the time I got to San Francisco.
(For those of you who have been wondering where I have been, I have been in the future. Helping to tie the strings on a project that will surely change your life.)
We’d just capped grueling week in production for the videos that accompany the two lead singles off of The ArchAndroid (May 18th) and had flown from Atlanta to New York where Jane Ripped the Runway. She was doing 2 and 3 photo shoots a day it seemed all while we were feverishly preparing for the Listening Experience playback of the album. All the while I was preparing to explain to a room full of strangers how I had managed to qualify for the many hats I wear, simply by turning off the tv.
In what seemed like minutes after Rip the Runway in New York, I was due in San Fran for the 4a’s conference where we would be presenting TOTV to a focus group. Though it had been planned months and months in advance, getting there was a beast…leaving was…well…let’s just say I fell asleep at the gate in San Fran 40 minutes BEFORE my flight. I woke up, and Rodrigo was the only person in the airport and he didn’t speak English, he only spoke vacuum, the only thing he was concerned with. He didn’t even flinch as I woke up in despair screaming every word that you are not supposed to scream as a black man in an airport. Yeah, already 3 hours behind where I was supposed to be the following morning. Getting back was…painful.
Back to the conference and the presentation.
I landed, Benny scooped me and we met Lincoln for a “meeting”. It just so happened to be “Happy Hour” so we met a little longer than expected. (approx. an hour I think)
Our goal over the course of the almost 10 hours that I was slated to be in town, was to introduce as many folks as we could to the concept of Turn of
the TV and to gain as many contacts and potential investors as was humanly possible. So immediately after our “meeting” we went upstairs to the “meeting hall” (read:open bar) where they were having yet another “meeting” already in progress. There were tons of ad execs all circling around the bar and massage tables, talking shop, looking for the next big thing…and we were it. They just didn’t know it yet.
And as we turn the corner, looking for the perfect place to set up shop we see: THE YAHOO IDEA LOUNGE.
Benny starts pitching, Lincoln starts drawing, I start filming…and before you know it we are in “talks”. (fellas if you are reading this, let this be the subtle reminder to follow up, ya dig?)
Later, we met a gentleman who insisted that he’d not owned a television in 20 years and that his children know a world without it. I asked him to speak on #Laptape, but he declined. Though he did say he would scribble me an essay to be used in TOTV 2.
So we went to the venue where our event was to be held and began to loosen up for the presentation.
The emails received, the donations received, and the spike in San Fran based Twitter followers suggests that the event went really well. But I’ll let you be the judge. Stay tuned for video from the event! (Kenji shoot me over that raw footage so I can chop it)
Best,
2.0
*special thanks to the Marcus Graham Project.
For those that might have missed it, didn’t know about it, or didn’t think the revolution would be on Blog Talk radio yesterday afternoon, here is a rebroadcast of me on The Drum Radio yesterday.
The Drum 2/21 – Turn Off The TV
Below is a flyer and press release for an event we are hosting in San Francisco next week. If you or anyone you know of in the Bay area wants to come out, be inspired, and meet a couple of Marcus Graham’s this is the event for you. It is a listening party/talkback based around my Sitcom Mixtape “Turn off the TV”.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Patsy Perkins
(917-214-8401)
patsypr@marcusgrahamproject.org
Movement inspired by Eddie Murphy Tells Ad Industry to “Turn Off The TV”
Grassroots Advertising Incubator Returns to National Conference to enlighten thought leaders on how a new generation is able to create their own content faster, cheaper and with greater cultural relevance.
On Tuesday March 2, a movement of the new school of culture creators, brand builders, thought leaders & social change agents goes to San Francisco again and this time with a message of media transformation. Hosted by George 2.0, co-founder of grassroots organization The Marcus Graham Project, the event will take place immediately following a day-long series of discussions hosted by the 4A’s (American Association of Advertising Agencies) during their annual leadership and media conference entitled Transformation 2010. The event, entitled, Turn Off The TV, will be held from 6pm until 9pm at Eve Lounge located at 575 Howard Street in San Francisco and is named after a recently released project created by George 2.0.
Turn off the TV (TOTV) is a sitcom mix tape that suggests that anybody and everybody can do what they see on television, as long as they turn it off long enough to be proactive about chasing their dreams. As almost all of the music and videos inspired by the mix tape were developed, recorded, shot, and edited with a Laptop, cell phone, or an improvised audio/video device, TOTV is proof that artists of any age and skill level can produce competitive content with little to no resources.
The event will underscore the importance of supporting individuals and organizations that have minimal resources, but have amazing creating potential. The Marcus Graham Project is an emerging network that is strategically focused on building the next generation of diverse leadership in the advertising industry through mentorship, training & career development. “As we prepare to officially launch our organization, we are excited about returning to San Francisco to the 4A’s Leadership Conference as this is the location that we made our industry debut,” says Lincoln Stephens, founder of The Marcus Graham Project. The program was named after a character that Eddie Murphy played in a 1992 movie entitled Boomerang.
The event will encourage attendees to the Transformation 2010 Conference to think about how they can transform their thinking and pursue their dreams all by turning off the TV.
In addition, the event will feature remarks by Jason Rosenthal, COO for Ning.com. Ning is the social platform for the world’s interests and passions online. Millions of people every day are coming together across Ning to explore and express their interests, discover new passions, and meet new people around shared pursuits.
To RSVP contact patsypr@marcusgrahamproject.org For more information on The Marcus Graham Project visit www.marcusgrahamproject.org
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Sketch Comedy #punswild
Last spring the renowned illustrator and conceptually gifted visual artist Chad Weatherford came to Wondaland to begin work on album art for Janelle Monae’s new project. Chad is the kind of guy that only needs a can of soup, a cup of coffee and a space. Over the course of the 6 days he was in town, he probably completed 50-60 individual sketches of people, rocks, costumes, concepts, graphs, giraffes, carafts, and…me!
I didn’t even know that he was sketching me as we were sitting in the kitchen in conversation. I got up to use the bathroom and when I walked behind him, I saw this sketch .
Bring Your A Game Parts 1 & 2
These are two pieces I shot and chopped for the loop 21 a few months back while in Harlem. Shout out to the homies Mike Muse and Liz for gigging with me that day. What a process!!
BRING YOUR A GAME PART 1
BRING YOUR A GAME PART 2
…well, it was really Manhattan and 114th in Harlem, but it was the “start of something good”. (c) “Elevators” by Outkast.
At any rate. It was the beginning. Any1Man was being resurrected and we decided that we were going to make a short out of all of the characters. This is a photo from the day that I dressed in full Bishop regalia and took to the streets. I laid on subway platforms, ate out of trashcans, and even convinced “Anthony” , a homeless Black Man, (pictured below) that I was homeless. It was the oddest feeling. A church van full of elderly women pulled up and fed us both. I enjoyed one of the best chicken and bread snacks I have ever had in my life. I never told “Anthony” that I lived in a nice apartment around the corner. But I did slide him some money as we left.
“You don’t notice us, but we notice you.”-Bishop from Any1Man
*shouts to Jon Genius, Rae Ransom, and Daniel Patterson
**photo by Jon Genius
I think the Directing bug bit me
Yesterday,was one of the most phenomenal days in my life. I used a simple downtown Elizabeth sidewalk as an exterior location and directed for the first time.
Sure, I have been “directing” Any1Man and have directed numerous short presentations ranging from Interplay to my own recent usage of the Macbook “laptape”, but yesterday I was a DIRECTOR.
Not only did I direct a cameraman (usually my cameramen are WAY more than just camera ops) but I also directed the shooting of one of my students who was shooting with my “laptape”.
All the while, the kids….excuse me young professionals, were walking around set reciting my life’s mantra as though it was theirs…and it is.
“I give what I give just to prove that I live(d).”
![23rd Annual MLK, Jr Awards Breakfast [Sen. Charlie Rangel]](https://live.staticflickr.com/8188/8383827107_48b7924192_s.jpg "23rd Annual MLK, Jr Awards Breakfast [Sen. Charlie Rangel]")
2.0 